B.P.R.D. Vol 2: The Soul of Venice & Other Stories

B.P.R.D. Vol 2: The Soul of Venice & Other Stories (2004) Mike Mignola, Miles GUnther, Michael Avon Oeming, Brian Augustyn, Guy Davis, Geoff Jones, Scott Kolins, Joe Harris, Adam Pollina & Cameron Stewart

In The Soul of Venice & Other Stories, Mike Mignola invited several other artists and writers to help him write five new tales of the B.P.R.D.

As with Hellboy, I really like the B.P.R.D. in shorter stories. Sometime about the Hellboy world seems to fit very well with the shorter content. Although I have to admit that as a fan of short stories, I may be a bit prejudiced.

Hellboy is still AWOL, and the other members of the Bureau aren’t quite sure how to continue without him, although they do their jobs.

“The Soul of Venice” finds the group in Venice, where the waters of that water bound town are said to be exploding, so they’re sent in to see if they can find and solve the problem.

In “Dark Waters” they go up to Massachusetts where the bodies of three young women who were killed as witches are discovered–and look as if they’d died only hours before.

“Night Train” takes Roger and Liz out to discover why a ghost train keeps appearing–a train that was destroyed by a Nazi in an attempt to keep the US from getting the bomb.

“There’s Something Under the Bed” sees children disappearing from their rooms at night, after complaining about monsters under the bed or in the closet.

The last story was a zombie story. I hate zombies.

All of the stories were good, and several were compelling, though for different reasons. Both “The Soul of Venice” and “Night Train” give us a look at Roger, his feelings, and his relationship with Liz. The more I read of the BRPD stories, the more I’m coming to like Roger. Abe is fascinating, but there’s just something deeply and profoundly good about Roger that I simply like. Not that any of them seem to have much control over their own destinies.

Because this is a selection of short stories, you could easily pick this volume up without any other knowledge of the Hellboy universe or these characters. Back stories are explained as necessary, although of course not in the depth of the original tales, but more than enough for help you understand what is happening. They are somewhat dark, but I really enjoy them, and recommend the BPRD to anyone interested in the Hellboy universe or who is just looking for something different.
Rating: 8/10

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